Lt. Governor Earle-Sears visits the Eastern Shore

Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earl Sears paid a visit to the Eastern Shore.  Sears appeared at a Republican Fund Raising event Wednesday night and then appeared at a breakfast sponsored by Delegate Rob Bloxom at the Mary N. Smith Cultural Center Thursday morning.  The Lt. Governor addressed the urgency of the Fentanyl crisis both on the Eastern Shore and throughout Virginia.  Sears said the drug overdoses have surpassed automobile accidents and shootings in killing young people.   Sears urged those in attendance  to help get the word out about the deadly drug. Overdose kits were distributed by the Eastern Shore Community Services Board.

Fentanyl overdoses have grown from no deaths in 2012 to 31 death’s per 100,000 people in Accomack County and 17 deaths per 100,000 in Northampton in 2022.

Tablets resembling candy are being sold on line with youth ordering on line and having them delivered.  Sears said that often children can sit beside their parents and order on line without the parents even realizing what is happening.  The legalization of marijuana has created another problem in that the weed is sometime laced with fentanyl.

After the event Sears traveled to Chincoteague and attended the Blueberry Festival.